Digital Asset Essentials for Depositary Services 2026

Depositary teams are increasingly being asked to oversee funds and structures that touch digital assets—whether that’s direct crypto exposure, tokenised instruments, stablecoins, or service providers that operate on-chain. The challenge is that the “plumbing” looks unfamiliar: wallets instead of accounts, block explorers instead of bank statements, and custody/monitoring controls that don’t map neatly to traditional operating models.

This course is a practical, depositary-focused introduction to how digital assets work in the real world—specifically through the lens of oversight, risk, evidence, and controls.

You’ll learn:

• What blockchain is (in plain English) and what it does and doesn’t prove

• How to use blockchain explorers to verify balances, transaction history, confirmations, and counterparty activity

• Where the depositary typically sits in a digital-asset operating model (and what “good” looks like)

• The main storage and custody approaches (hot/cold, multi-sig, MPC, HSM) and how to assess service providers

• How AML / KYT works for on-chain activity, including common risk indicators and practical monitoring approaches

• A working overview of MiCA—what it covers, how it classifies crypto-assets, and how that affects operating models

• Other regulations and standards you’ll encounter (e.g., Travel Rule concepts, sanctions expectations, governance and recordkeeping)

This is not a trading course and not a technical build course. It’s designed to help depositary, oversight, and control functions ask better questions, interpret on-chain evidence, and engage confidently with internal stakeholders, custodians, administrators, and vendors.

Format: concise modules, practical walkthroughs, and checklists you can reuse in due diligence and ongoing monitoring.